Julie L. Casey of Union Star, MO, sat down at her computer and her fingers began to fly over the keys as she penned what would very soon become her fourth book, entitled, “How I Became a Teenage Survival- ist”. This book has grabbed the attention of Hollywood, and set events in motion to film a trailer this past weekend.
Julie, the wife of South Holt High School science instructor Jonn Casey, began fulfilling her aspirations to write just a few years ago when she wrote her first book, “Stop Beating a Dead Horse”, a book that addresses the public school system. Her second book, “In Daddy’s Hands”, was based on a humorously true life family experience. Both books were self published within months of each other in early fall, 2010. Since those first works, she has written two more novels, “Holt: Guardians of Hope”, and the latest, “How I Became a Teen- age Survivalist”.
Julie, the wife of South Holt High School science instructor Jonn Casey, began fulfilling her aspirations to write just a few years ago when she wrote her first book, “Stop Beating a Dead Horse”, a book that addresses the public school system. Her second book, “In Daddy’s Hands”, was based on a humorously true life family experience. Both books were self published within months of each other in early fall, 2010. Since those first works, she has written two more novels, “Holt: Guardians of Hope”, and the latest, “How I Became a Teen- age Survivalist”.
Julie began the “How I Be- came a Teenage Survivalist” as a challenge to herself, as part of a National Novel Writing Month (NaNo WriMO) write a novel in a month event. Julie took the challenge in October, 2011, and completed her novel in 22 days, from November 1- November 22. ‘The words just seemed to pour off of my fingers’ she said of the quick write. Not spending too much time planning out the char- acters or the plot, she just sat down and wrote where her fingers took her. The novel has since been accepted for publi- cation by Pants on Fire Press.
The novel is about Bracken, a typical teenage boy, more in- terested in the angles of the girl’s exposed back teasing him from the seat ahead of him than in anything the ge- ometry teacher could present. His life is filled with school, video games, and thoughts of girls, not necessarily (or prob- ably not) in that order. Life just flows along uneventfully and unacknowledged until PF Day. On PF (Power Failure) Day, the sun strikes Bracken’s world with an unseen surge of electromagnetic fury, which cripples power stations and burns transformers to crispy nuggets of regret. Without elec- tricity there is no communica- tion, no modern conveniences and soon, no modern means of transportation, as the reserves of refined gasoline run dry, the failure of the water and sewer systems, the impossibility of getting food and supplies to people living in cities, and the deaths of millions of people from starvation, disease, and lack of medical care. Bracken soon realizes how lucky he is to live on a farm in the Mid- west. What seemed like a dull and backwards life before is now the greatest chance for survival in what seems like a powerless world. Bracken and his family must learn to sur- vive like their ancestors, who settled their land.
Julie submitted a script for a 90 second trailer, that she and others filmed this past weekend, September 29. Jim Conlin of St. Joseph, MO, who produced Reckoning, Days of the Pony Express; and St. Joseph-Days of the Civil War, met Julie, Jonn, their son Sean, nine South Holt students and others to film the trailer. Landi Quinlin, a South Holt educa- tor who edited the book for Julie, will also take part in the trailer portraying the part of Bracken’s mother. Conlin was assisted in the production by John Morris, a 1995 graduate of South Holt. The filming took several hours, and parts of the trailer were filmed in Jonn’s science classroom and open harvested fields.
“It’s very exciting,” stated author Julie Casey. “I’m not sure the story line is exciting enough for Hollywood, but the story is something different, something refreshing. It believes in the spirit of human nature.”
Julie submitted her novel for the Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel Award, where it became a quarterfinalist. She was among the top 5% of 10,000 authors who submitted works.
Julie’s third written work was, “Holt: Guardians of Hope”, was a very planned out piece, and portrays Orion, a survival- ist that lives five centuries in the future. Orion lives in Holt, a village on the Missouri River, in the middle of what used to be the United States of Amer- ica. This book is not yet pub- lished.
While Julie is excited about the future of this new novel, she stated unequivocally that “How I Became a Teenage Sur- vivalist” will have a sequel. The book is anticipated to hit the shelves in the fall of 2013. Information about the author can be found on her website www.julielcasey.com/
Read more here: New Novel Trailer Garners South Holt Students' Help
The novel is about Bracken, a typical teenage boy, more in- terested in the angles of the girl’s exposed back teasing him from the seat ahead of him than in anything the ge- ometry teacher could present. His life is filled with school, video games, and thoughts of girls, not necessarily (or prob- ably not) in that order. Life just flows along uneventfully and unacknowledged until PF Day. On PF (Power Failure) Day, the sun strikes Bracken’s world with an unseen surge of electromagnetic fury, which cripples power stations and burns transformers to crispy nuggets of regret. Without elec- tricity there is no communica- tion, no modern conveniences and soon, no modern means of transportation, as the reserves of refined gasoline run dry, the failure of the water and sewer systems, the impossibility of getting food and supplies to people living in cities, and the deaths of millions of people from starvation, disease, and lack of medical care. Bracken soon realizes how lucky he is to live on a farm in the Mid- west. What seemed like a dull and backwards life before is now the greatest chance for survival in what seems like a powerless world. Bracken and his family must learn to sur- vive like their ancestors, who settled their land.
Julie submitted a script for a 90 second trailer, that she and others filmed this past weekend, September 29. Jim Conlin of St. Joseph, MO, who produced Reckoning, Days of the Pony Express; and St. Joseph-Days of the Civil War, met Julie, Jonn, their son Sean, nine South Holt students and others to film the trailer. Landi Quinlin, a South Holt educa- tor who edited the book for Julie, will also take part in the trailer portraying the part of Bracken’s mother. Conlin was assisted in the production by John Morris, a 1995 graduate of South Holt. The filming took several hours, and parts of the trailer were filmed in Jonn’s science classroom and open harvested fields.
“It’s very exciting,” stated author Julie Casey. “I’m not sure the story line is exciting enough for Hollywood, but the story is something different, something refreshing. It believes in the spirit of human nature.”
Julie submitted her novel for the Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel Award, where it became a quarterfinalist. She was among the top 5% of 10,000 authors who submitted works.
Julie’s third written work was, “Holt: Guardians of Hope”, was a very planned out piece, and portrays Orion, a survival- ist that lives five centuries in the future. Orion lives in Holt, a village on the Missouri River, in the middle of what used to be the United States of Amer- ica. This book is not yet pub- lished.
While Julie is excited about the future of this new novel, she stated unequivocally that “How I Became a Teenage Sur- vivalist” will have a sequel. The book is anticipated to hit the shelves in the fall of 2013. Information about the author can be found on her website www.julielcasey.com/
Read more here: New Novel Trailer Garners South Holt Students' Help
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